Sophomore biology major Elitza Koutleva will be taking the Medical College Admission Test earlier than she expected.
She plans to take the MCAT in her junior year, rather than as a senior. Most students take the MCAT the year before they plan to enter medical school, but upcoming changes to the exam have made some students nervous — and more eager to take the exam in its current format.
On Jan. 28, the Association of American Medical Colleges announced new test dates for the MCAT to accommodate students who want to take the test before it changes in the spring of 2015 — and Koutleva wants to take advantage of the opportunity.
“I am hesitant to take an exam that no one has ever taken before,” Koutleva said. “I don’t want to be a guinea pig.”
The updated MCAT will contain psychology, sociology and more in-depth biochemistry material. The length of the test will nearly double — from three hours and 20 minutes to six hours and 15 minutes — and will contain two new types of questions focusing on research design.The MCAT in its current format will now be offered in October and November, in addition to the previously scheduled test dates in January 2015.
“That’s really a very clear sign from the AAMC that they recognize that there are a lot of students who are going to be wanting to take the exam before it changes,” said Owen Farcy, Kaplan Test Prep’s director of MCAT 2015.
For students, more material means more preparation and classes.
Students will need to take 11 prerequisite classes instead of eight in order to prepare for the new topics on the exam.
“The science that medicine is founded on and the way medicine is practiced in the United States has changed dramatically,” Farcy said. “The intent of the AAMC is to create an exam that is better suited for physicians of the 21st century.”
